Pumpkins, Leaves, Sweaters and Blessings...Fall Bucket List

Happy Fall Y'All!

i know it's early to some but i just LOVE saying that:)

and you know, they say Fall begins in October.....

but once school starts.....it's Fall Y'all!

so i made my Fall bucket list this morning.

no surprises.....

it's truly that time of year when you want the same ol' thing.

the smell of pumpkin spices and apple pie.

college football on saturday.

crisp fall air.

(actually, I can only DREAM about that one......and i do!:)

see what i mean.......no surprises with my list:)

time to start making some sweater vases like last year.
they were really easy and kinda cute,
if i say so myself:)

do you decorate for Fall?
the easiest thing to do is plaster the house with pretty pumpkins:)

inside AND out.......

if i had a pumpkin patch, i would SOOOO do this.....

and since i like TREATS.......
here are a few of my favorite.

candy corn pretzels!
just dip pretzel sticks in white chocolate
 that you colored and you have these cute little treats!

oh my gosh.......
i LOVE caramel apples.
there are so many cool ways to make them these days that
I'll have to do a blog post sometime.
but here's one that is so stinkin clever i can't stand it:)

pretty self-explanatory, so go for it!
if you're a tiny bit more ambitious, try this.......

Hollow out apples and bake with cinnamon and sugar inside. 

After it's done baking, fill with ice cream and caramel. 

MMMMMMM........

and if you're lucky enough to get those cool, crisp days.......

try making some pumpkin pie white hot cocoa!

there is a recipe out there somewhere but it has a few more ingredients than this LAZY

girl likes......or can remember.

so to keep it simple, use white chocolate instead of chocolate chunks 

to make the cocoa and add pumpkin pie spices.

totally DELICIOUS!

have a LOVELY day!!!

XOXOXOXO

Suzanne

Hurricane Isaac, Random Stuff.....and FOOD:)

Hurricane Isaac is on it's way.
but before i write any more,

i am so sorry to hear about the people killed in Haiti
and the Dominican Republic.
i can't imagine living in a tent during this!
all we can do is pray, right?

so, living in south florida,

we are kinda used to this.

and it looks as if we will "only" get a few 

REALLY rainy/windy days.
no worries......
all we need is some of this stuff and this attitude.......

Hurrican Isaac by shabbychicks featuring pink boots

OKAY.......

it's cool going to the beach in the days leading up to it.

we went to the Naples Pier Friday night and

all was calm.......HOT and sunny:)

Yesterday we went for a walk on the beach.....

calm but now cloudy.

and today, we should feel a breeze when we go.

oh my gosh, i wish i could bottle that  breeze.

it really has been a LONG HOT SUMMER!

here are some pics from the weekend.......
i have to ask,
what do you think of my hair?
besides the fact that is SHORT?:)
it's okay if you have nothing nice to say.....
i took a razor to it Friday afternoon:)

yesterday we found colorful little shells.
and SEAGLASS!
 always a special treat!
i noticed Taylor picking up broken shells that were very colorful.
she has always collected shells.....
we all do.
but Taylor used to (still does)
collect broken ones, too.
i finally asked her why.
she said "look at the outside of a broken shell and then the inside.
sometimes the inside is much prettier."
WHOA.......
talk about a lightbulb moment!

maybe, just MAYBE, it's a great reminder
to see what's on the inside rather than the
 outside of people.
yep, that's what it is alright:)

i love this.........

it's no accident......by the way:)

food.
did i mention food in the title?
OF COURSE I DID!
what else do i talk about.....
or think about?:)
well..........
i found the MOST amazing cookie recipe
from culinary concepts by peabody on pinterest.

culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody

these are so soft and YUMMY!

White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups flour

2 tsp. Ginger, Ground

1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground (I used fresh)

1/4 tap salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

Adapted from McCormick and Company Inc.

and one of my favorite,

SUPER easy appetizers is to throw a brick of light cream cheese on a plate,

dump some pepper jelly on top and serve with crackers.

(throw.....dump......gee! really makes it sound appetizing. hahaha)

ANYWAY, look at this cute idea using just those ingredients......

How clever! Just cut a cream cheese block in half on the diagonal to make a tree shape. 

Add some bell pepper decorations and some pepper jelly (and crackers), 

and you have an awesomely cute appetizer! (Betty Crocker)

lastly, i leave you with a cloud photo

my 15 year old daughter, Jordan, snapped with her phone the other day.

can you see anything in the clouds?

let me give you a clue.......

we just finished watching Shark Week on TV.

for some weird reason, we like Shark week:)

it's a SHARK cloud!

see his pointy nose, eyes, TEETH.........

i think it's super cool.

i want it to go viral.........

she caught a great photo and deserves it:)

okay my friends,

be BLESSED on this Sunday morning!

XOXOXOXOX

Suzanne

Birthdays and more.....

you know how you do special things for your kids as they grow up,

creating traditions,making memories

never expecting it to come back to you......

but incredibly happy when it does?

that's how it's been with me lately.

you see, birthdays are a BIG deal around here.

HUGE!

always a theme, decorating, favorite foods, fun stuff to do.....

and last week,  my AMAZING girls gave me an

INCREDIBLE birthday!

it all started with the decorations for

an ocean themed party.

(cause we love going to the beach:)

 they gathered shells and other beachy stuff around the house,

bought some cool stuff at the party store,

including these awesome blue glasses.

i wish i had better photos to share because it was 

soooooo BEAUTIFUL!

we always put pics of the birthday girl or boy around as part

of the decorations......

and they did that for me:)

rather than wrapping a black gift box,

Jordan wrote a quote about beach life on the box with a paint pen.

yep, yep, yep.....i have some creative girls

and Taylor gets such JOY out of decorating everything possible.

we went to the beach to look for shells, watched a few movies,

munched on caramel corn, had chili pasta for dinner (YUM)

and even took a whack at Herman, the Turtle Pinata:)

(Taylor busted him open:)

FUN times!!!!!

for the cake, i knew i was in for a treat.

they worked on it alot, so i knew it would be delicious!

and that it would include my FAVORITE Orange Cake.

well.......take a look at my cake.

 no wonder they worked so hard!!!!!

they used my orange cake and then vanilla to use for the 

red, blue and purple layers.

my Rainbow cake.

pretty AMAZING, don't ya think?

and since my iphone is old (an original)

and has about had it,

my husband gave me a gift card to get the new iphone 5 when it comes out.

and oh my gosh,

my girls gave me the most amazing gifts!

(i am so blessed!!!)

it was kinda a Junk Gypsy birthday.

(love everything they sell/show:)

love my new JG bag and crochet shrug.

(sorry the photo is not so clear:)

trust me, it's really pretty.

my girls can SHOP!

now, since i feel kinda silly that this whole blog post has been all about me,

here are a few things for YOU!

what a super cool, easy idea.

tie cinnamoon sticks around a candle.

the scent as the candle warms the cinnamon sticks is SOOOOO wonderful!

and i thought this was cute.....

kinda like a reminder that there are simple, amazing things in the world,

even on our darkest days.

XOXOXOXO

Suzanne

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will work for a change:)

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Suzanne